The conceptual foundation for my creative thesis work is based in research into the development of science, particularly the field of cosmology, and its related visual vocabulary. Three interrelated projects encompass my interests in unique artists' books and variable editions, research based projects, codified presentation of data, and universal interconnectedness, or oneness in all things, that was at the heart of medieval cosmology and is embraced by some 21st century subcultures. The thematic timeline of the artwork spans developments in the Early Middle Ages related to astronomy and cosmology and through 20th century guidebooks and NASA's social media accounts. The resulting artwork includes an artist's book, sculptural bookwork, monoprints, and an edition of broadsides.

This study focuses on developing a book arts curriculum as a tool for teaching about creativity and problem solving. The curriculum's ultimate goal is to introduce and emphasize book arts as an expressive and powerful medium to future teachers and artists. Book arts will be used to offer potentialities for collaborative, learner-centered instruction. Students will create structures and artists' books from their experience, their learning will emerge from personal interactions with the structures and artists' books presented. The curriculum is planned into three modules, each module containing a different set of projects and activities organized to scaffold students learning in an engaging process. The modules examine book structures, artists' books, and a project that can either further explore book structures and artists books, or it can explore incorporating some other aspect of book arts in the project. Each module provides a broad range of examples, discussions, questions, and applications.

Fool’s Gold is a collection of handmade books that illustrate selected Grimms’ fairy tales and offer an unexpected interpretation of the actions of the heroes. Each book displays a unique cover decoration, inspired by medieval European treasure bindings. Treasure bindings incorporate dimensional decorative elements such as gems, gold or other metalwork and often depict Christ's suffering. In a similar way, Fool's Gold beautifies the suffering of the protagonists using gold leaf, glass beads and lush illustrations. A traditional hidden fore-edge painting technique is used to reveal more scenes from each story. When the pages are fanned opened, the fore-edge paintings display the gruesome revenge the perceived heroes take upon the villains.

I regard the culturally rich bookbinding as formats that hold great meaning; I made models of books that existed in different cultures through the history of the book. I became interested in how each structure had unique features and how the books themselves transmitted knowledge about their form. This interest in bookbinding formats led me to explore ways to add content to The binding plays a powerful role in producing my artist's books, the look and presence of these bindings is an integral part of my work and they are linked to the content and aesthetics. The final pieces encourage the viewer to interact with the work.

The expanding potential for the dissemination and archiving of aphorisms is explored in this practice-based research thesis. An aphorism is a short statement that communicates an insight about the world (and can sometimes function as a guide to action). Eric McLuhan, interviewed in Signs of the Times: The History of Writing (Goëss Video, 1996), suggests that the future of the book is the aphoristic statement. Aphoristic knowledge has traditionally been transmitted through texts and through libraries, but this project brings into play various modes of recirculating aphoristic texts using contemporary distribution networks and digital media such as moving image, projection on to urban screens, artists’ books, archival digital photography and glazed ceramics. Texts ‘virally inhabit’ a number of sites and languages in a series of works situated in the interdisciplinary context of contemporary text art and artists’ books. The sayings rejoin the cultural river of ideas in local and international incarnations. Practice-based work (80%) and exegesis (20%)

The Swedish photographer and artist Eva Klasson, based in Paris in the 1970s, gained attention for her series of black-and-white photography of her own naked body, which opened up for an international artistic career in the late 1970s. Despite a promising career she however abandoned photography and disappeared from the artistic sphere only a few years after her debut. There has been a renewed interest in Klasson’s work in Sweden the last decade where she has been exhibited at museums and galleries. Today she is represented at art museums and institutions including Moderna Museet, The Modern Museum of Art, in Stockholm. She is now presented as a pioneer and a forerunner to the later generation of Swedish women artists working with photo based art and staged photography in the 1990s. This historiographical study revisits Klasson’s work, career and reception in order to examine the prevalent understanding of the artist and her work. There is limited previous research on Klasson. This empirical study is therefore based on Klasson’s works that I have examined first hand at Moderna Museet and Borås konstmuseum. By tracing Klasson’s career and examining the contemporary reception in France and in Sweden one can see that Klasson not only enjoyed wider attention in France than in Sweden but also that she was received and understood differently in the two countries. Today’s prevalent reading of Klasson is to a large extent based on the contemporary reception, which disregards important aspects of her work. By discussing Klasson’s body of work in relation to photography of similar subject matter and aesthetics it become clear that one cannot only discuss her work in terms of photography. It is evident that Klasson’s work comprises of subtle elements that have largely been ignored so far. The prevalent understanding of Klasson also shows to be based on a narrow selection of her work. I argue that Klasson’s working method and artistic expression is formulaic. This becomes evident in the examination of her artist book, Le troisième angle (1976), which set off her artistic career. The artist’s book also forms a background against which this artistic project originally had been formulated and brings new light to Klasson and her work. Her two following series, Ombilic (1977) and Parasites (1978), are modeled on the artist’s book. Therefore these three series, following the same strategy, must be regarded in relation to one another. Furthermore I argue that one needs to pay attention to all parts of her artistic production that together comprise the works. In doing so, this essay, with its historiographical scope, suggests and opens up to new and alternative readings of Klasson’s work.

The expanding potential for the dissemination and archiving of aphorisms is explored in this practice-based research thesis. An aphorism is a short statement that communicates an insight about the world (and can sometimes function as a guide to action). Eric McLuhan, interviewed in Signs of the Times: The History of Writing (Goëss Video, 1996), suggests that the future of the book is the aphoristic statement. Aphoristic knowledge has traditionally been transmitted through texts and through libraries, but this project brings into play various modes of recirculating aphoristic texts using contemporary distribution networks and digital media such as moving image, projection on to urban screens, artists’ books, archival digital photography and glazed ceramics. Texts ‘virally inhabit’ a number of sites and languages in a series of works situated in the interdisciplinary context of contemporary text art and artists’ books. The sayings rejoin the cultural river of ideas in local and international incarnations. Practice-based work (80%) and exegesis (20%)

Esta dissertação trata sobre o potencial formativo dos registros durante o processo criativo da encenação em sala de aula. O trabalho parte dos estudos da crítica genética literária, por meio do pensamento de Cecília Almeida Salles, e da Genética Teatral, a partir do pensamento de Josette Féral e Almuth Grésillon sobre a problemática lançada de como fazer os registros em teatro. Esta pesquisa problematiza a efemeridade da encenação diante do processo de registro. A partir disso, é utilizado o processo de montagem do espetáculo A História Secreta da Lua, de autoria da pesquisadora, releitura do mito judaico-cristão da criação humana, com uma turma de treze alunos do ensino médio do Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS. A pesquisa buscou alternativas para conceber o livro de encenação e refletir sobre a prática do teatro performativo como pedagogia teatral. Buscou-se estabelecer relações entre o processo de criação e o processo de aprendizagem em teatro. A pesquisa baseia-se nos Estudos da Performance para apontar indicadores de pesquisa dentro do campo da Genética Teatral que possibilitem a fabricação dos registros presentes no livro de encenação e as consequências dessa busca no caminho de aprendizagem dos alunos-atores em situação colaborativa de criação. Por intermédio de registros em grupo fechado, colhidos da rede social Facebook, bem como fotografias e registros retirados de gravações em vídeo e diário de trabalho, busca analisar os principais caminhos percorridos para os registros produzidos. Durante esse percurso, os registros colhidos foram selecionados e reunidos na materialidade do livro de encenação, que é resultado do processo, revela quando a qualidade performativa dos registros e contribuindo para o processo de aprendizagem dos alunos-atores por intermédio da indissociabilidade entre os processos criativo e pedagógico. Essa indissociabilidade demonstrou que há uma ampliação do aprendizado para outras referências artísticas além do território do teatro. Os registros quanto ao seu elemento formativo demonstraram ser hábeis em revelar qualidades como: o nível de envolvimento dos alunos no processo criativo e o fortalecimento da identidade de grupo, além de atuar como concretude de uma prática docente que pode ser consultada como referencial mnemônico do processo e mais especificamente dos elementos da encenação. Os registros mostram pela materialidade do livro igualmente, possibilidades de desdobramento na esfera artística e pedagógica o que reforça a constatação da performatividade dos mesmos. / This dissertation deals with the formative potential of the records during the creative staging process in the classroom. The work is based from the genetic literary criticism studies from the thoughts of Cecilia Almeida Salles and of the Theatrical Genetics from the thoughts of Josette Féral and Almuth Grésillon about the issue launched on how to make the records in theater. This research discusses the ephemerality of the staging facing the registration process. From this on, it is used the assembly process of the show The Secret History of the Moon, written by the researcher, reinterpretation of the Jewish-Christian myth of the human creation, with a group of thirteen high school students of the UFRGS Application High School. The research sought for alternatives to conceive the staging book and reflect about the practice of the performative theater as theatrical pedagogy. It attempted to establish relationships between the process of creation and the learning process in theater. The research is based on the Performance Studies to point indicators of the research within the Theatrical Genetics field which enable the production of the records presented in the staging book and the consequences of this quest in the path of the learning of the students- actors in the collaborative situation of the creation . Through the records in closed group picked from the Facebook social network, as well as photographs and records taken from video recordings and daily work, seeks to analyze the main paths taken for the records produced. Along the way the selected records were chosen and gathered in the materiality of the staging book, which is the result of the process, revealing the performative quality of the records and contributing to the learning process of the students-actors through the inseparability between the creative and pedagogical processes. This inseparability demonstrated that there is an extension of the learning for the other artistic references beyond the territory of the theatre. The records regarding to their formative element proved to be skillful in revealing qualities such as: the level of the involvement of the students in the creative process and the strengthening of the group identity, besides acting as a concreteness of a teaching practice that can be consulted as a mnemonic reference of the process and more specifically of the staging elements. The records show by the materiality of the book also the possibilities of the deployment in the artistic and pedagogical spheres which reinforces the finding of the performativity of thereof.

Esta dissertação trata sobre o potencial formativo dos registros durante o processo criativo da encenação em sala de aula. O trabalho parte dos estudos da crítica genética literária, por meio do pensamento de Cecília Almeida Salles, e da Genética Teatral, a partir do pensamento de Josette Féral e Almuth Grésillon sobre a problemática lançada de como fazer os registros em teatro. Esta pesquisa problematiza a efemeridade da encenação diante do processo de registro. A partir disso, é utilizado o processo de montagem do espetáculo A História Secreta da Lua, de autoria da pesquisadora, releitura do mito judaico-cristão da criação humana, com uma turma de treze alunos do ensino médio do Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS. A pesquisa buscou alternativas para conceber o livro de encenação e refletir sobre a prática do teatro performativo como pedagogia teatral. Buscou-se estabelecer relações entre o processo de criação e o processo de aprendizagem em teatro. A pesquisa baseia-se nos Estudos da Performance para apontar indicadores de pesquisa dentro do campo da Genética Teatral que possibilitem a fabricação dos registros presentes no livro de encenação e as consequências dessa busca no caminho de aprendizagem dos alunos-atores em situação colaborativa de criação. Por intermédio de registros em grupo fechado, colhidos da rede social Facebook, bem como fotografias e registros retirados de gravações em vídeo e diário de trabalho, busca analisar os principais caminhos percorridos para os registros produzidos. Durante esse percurso, os registros colhidos foram selecionados e reunidos na materialidade do livro de encenação, que é resultado do processo, revela quando a qualidade performativa dos registros e contribuindo para o processo de aprendizagem dos alunos-atores por intermédio da indissociabilidade entre os processos criativo e pedagógico. Essa indissociabilidade demonstrou que há uma ampliação do aprendizado para outras referências artísticas além do território do teatro. Os registros quanto ao seu elemento formativo demonstraram ser hábeis em revelar qualidades como: o nível de envolvimento dos alunos no processo criativo e o fortalecimento da identidade de grupo, além de atuar como concretude de uma prática docente que pode ser consultada como referencial mnemônico do processo e mais especificamente dos elementos da encenação. Os registros mostram pela materialidade do livro igualmente, possibilidades de desdobramento na esfera artística e pedagógica o que reforça a constatação da performatividade dos mesmos. / This dissertation deals with the formative potential of the records during the creative staging process in the classroom. The work is based from the genetic literary criticism studies from the thoughts of Cecilia Almeida Salles and of the Theatrical Genetics from the thoughts of Josette Féral and Almuth Grésillon about the issue launched on how to make the records in theater. This research discusses the ephemerality of the staging facing the registration process. From this on, it is used the assembly process of the show The Secret History of the Moon, written by the researcher, reinterpretation of the Jewish-Christian myth of the human creation, with a group of thirteen high school students of the UFRGS Application High School. The research sought for alternatives to conceive the staging book and reflect about the practice of the performative theater as theatrical pedagogy. It attempted to establish relationships between the process of creation and the learning process in theater. The research is based on the Performance Studies to point indicators of the research within the Theatrical Genetics field which enable the production of the records presented in the staging book and the consequences of this quest in the path of the learning of the students- actors in the collaborative situation of the creation . Through the records in closed group picked from the Facebook social network, as well as photographs and records taken from video recordings and daily work, seeks to analyze the main paths taken for the records produced. Along the way the selected records were chosen and gathered in the materiality of the staging book, which is the result of the process, revealing the performative quality of the records and contributing to the learning process of the students-actors through the inseparability between the creative and pedagogical processes. This inseparability demonstrated that there is an extension of the learning for the other artistic references beyond the territory of the theatre. The records regarding to their formative element proved to be skillful in revealing qualities such as: the level of the involvement of the students in the creative process and the strengthening of the group identity, besides acting as a concreteness of a teaching practice that can be consulted as a mnemonic reference of the process and more specifically of the staging elements. The records show by the materiality of the book also the possibilities of the deployment in the artistic and pedagogical spheres which reinforces the finding of the performativity of thereof.

Esta dissertação trata sobre o potencial formativo dos registros durante o processo criativo da encenação em sala de aula. O trabalho parte dos estudos da crítica genética literária, por meio do pensamento de Cecília Almeida Salles, e da Genética Teatral, a partir do pensamento de Josette Féral e Almuth Grésillon sobre a problemática lançada de como fazer os registros em teatro. Esta pesquisa problematiza a efemeridade da encenação diante do processo de registro. A partir disso, é utilizado o processo de montagem do espetáculo A História Secreta da Lua, de autoria da pesquisadora, releitura do mito judaico-cristão da criação humana, com uma turma de treze alunos do ensino médio do Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS. A pesquisa buscou alternativas para conceber o livro de encenação e refletir sobre a prática do teatro performativo como pedagogia teatral. Buscou-se estabelecer relações entre o processo de criação e o processo de aprendizagem em teatro. A pesquisa baseia-se nos Estudos da Performance para apontar indicadores de pesquisa dentro do campo da Genética Teatral que possibilitem a fabricação dos registros presentes no livro de encenação e as consequências dessa busca no caminho de aprendizagem dos alunos-atores em situação colaborativa de criação. Por intermédio de registros em grupo fechado, colhidos da rede social Facebook, bem como fotografias e registros retirados de gravações em vídeo e diário de trabalho, busca analisar os principais caminhos percorridos para os registros produzidos. Durante esse percurso, os registros colhidos foram selecionados e reunidos na materialidade do livro de encenação, que é resultado do processo, revela quando a qualidade performativa dos registros e contribuindo para o processo de aprendizagem dos alunos-atores por intermédio da indissociabilidade entre os processos criativo e pedagógico. Essa indissociabilidade demonstrou que há uma ampliação do aprendizado para outras referências artísticas além do território do teatro. Os registros quanto ao seu elemento formativo demonstraram ser hábeis em revelar qualidades como: o nível de envolvimento dos alunos no processo criativo e o fortalecimento da identidade de grupo, além de atuar como concretude de uma prática docente que pode ser consultada como referencial mnemônico do processo e mais especificamente dos elementos da encenação. Os registros mostram pela materialidade do livro igualmente, possibilidades de desdobramento na esfera artística e pedagógica o que reforça a constatação da performatividade dos mesmos. / This dissertation deals with the formative potential of the records during the creative staging process in the classroom. The work is based from the genetic literary criticism studies from the thoughts of Cecilia Almeida Salles and of the Theatrical Genetics from the thoughts of Josette Féral and Almuth Grésillon about the issue launched on how to make the records in theater. This research discusses the ephemerality of the staging facing the registration process. From this on, it is used the assembly process of the show The Secret History of the Moon, written by the researcher, reinterpretation of the Jewish-Christian myth of the human creation, with a group of thirteen high school students of the UFRGS Application High School. The research sought for alternatives to conceive the staging book and reflect about the practice of the performative theater as theatrical pedagogy. It attempted to establish relationships between the process of creation and the learning process in theater. The research is based on the Performance Studies to point indicators of the research within the Theatrical Genetics field which enable the production of the records presented in the staging book and the consequences of this quest in the path of the learning of the students- actors in the collaborative situation of the creation . Through the records in closed group picked from the Facebook social network, as well as photographs and records taken from video recordings and daily work, seeks to analyze the main paths taken for the records produced. Along the way the selected records were chosen and gathered in the materiality of the staging book, which is the result of the process, revealing the performative quality of the records and contributing to the learning process of the students-actors through the inseparability between the creative and pedagogical processes. This inseparability demonstrated that there is an extension of the learning for the other artistic references beyond the territory of the theatre. The records regarding to their formative element proved to be skillful in revealing qualities such as: the level of the involvement of the students in the creative process and the strengthening of the group identity, besides acting as a concreteness of a teaching practice that can be consulted as a mnemonic reference of the process and more specifically of the staging elements. The records show by the materiality of the book also the possibilities of the deployment in the artistic and pedagogical spheres which reinforces the finding of the performativity of thereof.